


Recovery

by hokage35



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: M/M, Slash, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Tumblr: otpprompts, still canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-19
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-25 13:40:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9823055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hokage35/pseuds/hokage35
Summary: “The turkey came at me with a gun.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the OTP Prompts tumblr prompt: Imagine the soulmate AU where the first words your soulmate will say to you is tattooed on your wrist, but Person A’s tattoo is something completely ridiculous or nonsensical.

Tonight had been successful Barba thought to himself. Three perps were currently under arrest for the gang-rape of a college freshman and the attempted rape of a second. Fin was holding down the fort so Barba thought he’d swing by the hospital first to check in on Liv, Rollins and SVU’s brand new detective who’d gone and managed to get himself injured during his first week on the job. 

Something bothered Rafael as he rode the hospital elevator. His wrist was itching, more specifically his soulmate tattoo. Some experts say that meant his soulmate was near but he never believed that old wives tale. He was working anyway and had no time to go searching the halls for a soulmate who may or may not be there. 

Rafael had never been a big believer in the soulmate tattoo. Whilst it worked for others, the man was in his forties and still single. In his line of work he didn’t have much time for a personal life. Besides it’s not like his soulmate tattoo gave him much hope. It was supposed to be the first words his true love would say to him. ‘The turkey came at me with a gun,’ was not awe inspiring. Rafael sometimes wondered if his soulmate was locked up in a psych ward somewhere. 

“Barba,” Rollins spotted him first as he rounded the corner and past the nurses’ station.

“Detective,” he replied. “That looks bad,” he pointed to the sling on her arm.

Rollins shook her head. “Small sprain, need to wear this for a couple days,” she’d crash tackled one of the perps to the ground as he tried to escape. “Carisi took the worst of it. Liv is in there with him, and I have to go call Fin and let him know what’s happening.” She made her way down the hall and out of sight.

Approaching detective Carisi’s room, Rafael’s tattoo flared up again. This time it felt red hot, irritable but not very painful. He frowned, looking around the ward, none of the doctors or nurses seemed to be having a similar reaction. Snapping back to reality he straightened up and entered the room.

Olivia turned around immediately. “Hey,” she smiled, clearly exhausted from the day’s events.

“Hey,” Barba replied. “How is he?” The ADA approached the bed. He’d never met the other man. Detective Carisi was out of the office on the one day Barba had been in that week. He looked at the other man. He was pale, fragile looking in that bed. Something however pulled at his heart strings as he gazed at the rise and fall of Carisi’s chest. Rafael had seen many cops injured in the line of duty but this was something else. 

“He took a pretty bad hit to the back of the head. Doctor says he has a nasty concussion and they’ve given him a host of meds to help him sleep. He’ll probably he out of it for a while but they expect him to make a full recovery in a couple days,” a beep on her phone drew Olivia’s attention away. “And that’s the station with his emergency contact details.” She started walking towards the door. “I have to call his mother, do you think you could wait with him for a minute in case he wakes up?”

“Sure,” Rafael nodded. Those calls were never easy. With Olivia now gone he paced the room. Rafael examined the detective more closely. It felt like a relief to hear that the detective was going to be just fine. Carisi was tall, lean with a mop of blonde hair. Rafael was sure the other man was pretty sexy when he wasn’t unconscious on a hospital bed. Pretty sexy? Where did that come from? Barba thought and why was his tattoo still irritating him? He went to back away and sit down but halted when the detective began to stir in his bed. “Detective Carisi, you’re awake.” Were the first words that came to mind. They hadn’t met but if he woke up in a hospital bed after being attacked he’d probably want someone there with nice words to say.

Suddenly Rafael was confronted by the most beautiful pair of blue eyes he’d ever seen. Detective Carisi blinked at him a couple of times before opening his mouth to speak. “‘The turkey came at me with a gun.” He then slumped back down, unconscious once more.

Rafael jumped backwards, his heartbeat now racing. “No,” he whispered to himself. “No, no, no, no, no.” He repeated in a daze. That did not just happen. “Detective?” he tried but the other man was out cold. Rafael crept forward towards the bed. He reached out hesitantly and slowly grabbed the other man’s wrist, turning it over to view his tattoo. His mouth fell open when he saw the tattooed words ‘Detective Carisi, you’re awake.’ Carisi was Barba’s soulmate. This information was too much for Rafael as he retreated from the room. He was met in the hallway by Olivia and Amanda who were both finished making their calls.

“Carisi’s parents are on their way,” Olivia shoved her phone back into her jeans. 

“Finn said he’s got everything under control,” Amanda added. 

“So go over the events again,” Olivia asked. “What exactly happened? You went after two perps and somehow Carisi ended up in hospital.”

Amanda leaned against the wall. “We had reason to suspect these two guys had grabbed another girl. We checked the perimeter of their apartment and went in. Carisi secured the two guys, and was going in to cuff them.” She paused, sighing deeply. “The turkey was there,” Rollins explained, noticing Barba’s head snap towards her. “Lucas Turkington aka the turkey, he’s a street thug, never done anything too serious, until tonight it seems.” 

“He went for Carisi,” Barba stated, a fact not a question. 

Amanda cocked a brow. “Yeah, he came out of a hiding spot and jumped Carisi, pistol whipped him in the back of the head. I tackled him to the ground and then the uniforms arrived. How did you know that?” 

“He woke up a moment ago but only for a few seconds,” he explained. “But it was long enough for him to tell me that the turkey came at him with a gun.” He’d thought it was nonsensical gibberish that his soulmate was just some crazy person but it turns out Carisi was just explaining how he got attacked. 

“Okay,” Olivia folded her arms. “So why do you look so flustered?” she had noticed the frantic look that the ADA was trying hard to cover up.

Taking a deep breath, Barba undid his sleeve button and rolled it up enough to reveal the inked words on his skin. 

Both Amanda and Olivia looked stunned.

“You mean Carisi is your?” Amanda tried to speak.

“My soulmate yeah,” Barba smiled this was all types of crazy but exciting at the same time.

“Not the most normal of first meetings,” Olivia smirked. “Okay well in that case this makes asking you easier.” Barba frowned. “I need to drive Amanda home and then help Finn with some interrogations. Are you able to hang out here until Carisi’s parents arrive?”

Rafael simply nodded his head before walking back into the room and taking the chair closest to detective Carisi’s bed. Rafael decided to not bring up the whole soulmate thing to Carisi’s family when they arrived. Instead he figured he’d wait for the young detective to get out of hospital and recover first before asking him out for a drink.


End file.
